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Safe drinking water and wildfire prevention: The election’s biggest climate battles

Julia Musto
Sun 3 November 2024 

A US Geological Survey wildlife biologist holds a juvenile salt marsh harvest mouse. California’s Proposition 4 could fund projects that could help protect the endangered species and its habitat. 

(Shannon Skalos Wildlife Biologist, USGS Western Ecological Research Center)

While this year’s presidential election may not have as much of a focus on climate change as many wish it would, voters can still make a difference when they head to the polls.

Across the US, there are 159 statewide ballot measures in 41 states, according to Ballotpedia. Only a handful of those deal with environmental issues and just a couple are specifically related to climate change.

Unsurprisingly, these measures are on the ballot in states threatened this year by extreme climate events. Earth had its hottest summer on record, bringing historic temperatures across multiple regions.

A grass fire burns above Interstate 580 in Oakland, California, earlier this month. October has seen toasty temperatures made more likely by climate change across the US. California and Washington voters will head to the polls to vote on climate legislation next week. ((AP Photo/Noah Berger))


Washington state and California have continued to feel the heat through October, and dry and windy conditions in the West have sparked additional wildfires less than a week before Election Day.

Washington, which is governed by Jay Inslee, a supporter of climate initiatives, will decide whether or not it will repeal the “Climate Commitment Act.” Inslee signed the law in 2021, which required the state’s largest polluters to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

It went into effect in 2023, raising billions for protections for climate and Tribal programs. The groundbreaking legislation will play a key role in reducing emissions by 45 per cent by 2030.

A voter drops a ballot into a freshly replaced ballot box in Vancouver, Washington, on Tuesday. Voter turnout in Washington is reportedly lagging this year. (REUTERS/John Rudoff)

One of the most progressive climate policies ever passed a state legislature, its fate could have national implications, and other local officials will likely have to consider similar policy to meet future climate targets.

While conservatives have said it has raised energy costs in the state, a recent KING 5 poll showed the majority of respondents won’t vote to repeal the act.

Voter turnout in Washington is lagging this year, according to The Seattle Times. Voting started in the state on October 18. On Wednesday, local officials in two counties said the US Postal Service had failed to deliver mail-in ballots in Whitman County.

In this image made from a video provided by KGW8, authorities investigate smoke pouring out of a ballot box on Monday in Vancouver, Washington. Many ballots inside the box were destroyed. ((KGW8 via AP))

Hundreds of ballots in a box in Vancouver, Washington, were damaged or destroyed when a ballot box was set on fire on Monday. The box’s fire suppression system didn’t work as intended. Six of the ballots were unidentifiable and the exact number of destroyed ballots remains unknown, although it’s unlikely to make or break the climate measure.

California was also burning this week, after wildfires sparked in San Diego on Thursday. The fires minorly damaged some residential properties, according to CBS 8.

Voters in the Golden State are deciding on the fate of Proposition 4, which is also known as the “climate bond.”

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill in July seeking voters’ approval to authorize $10bn in bonds for clean water, wildfire prevention, and climate resiliency. Now, Newsom and other environmental advocates have been pushing to spend more toward climate impacts as threats increase in severity.

Opponents say bonds are the most expensive way to pay for these projects and that the state should find other ways to finance such initiatives. Repaying the money could cost $400m a year over 40 years.

Over the past decade, the state has spent about $13bn annually on natural resources and climate activities, according to a legislative analysis. Proponents say the measure would save money in the long term.

The measure would allocate nearly $2bn of those bonds toward making drinking water improvements, $1.2bn toward wildfire prevention, and the same amount for land conservation and habitat restoration.

Another $1.2bn would pay to restore coastal areas and protect them from sea level rise, as well as improving marine habitats. That money could help to protect the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse. A whopping 90 per cent of the mouse’s habitat is gone due to rising sea levels.

Related
Climate change was a major US election issue in 2020. Why has it taken a back seat in 2024?

With reporting from The Associated Press

The Polls Are Underestimating the Importance of Climate Change

Saad Amer and Ro Khanna
Sun, November 3, 2024 


Polls are underestimating the importance of climate change to the average American. Every election cycle, pollsters hone in on core issues top of mind for the American public. These topics can make or break the American family as parents are getting kids ready for school in the morning and trying to figure out how to pay their bills at night.

Traditionally, we call these “kitchen table” issues, and they encompass everything from the economy, to education, to housing, to health care. But this election season, our climate is driving decisions on where to live, how to consume, whether to rebuild, or even evacuate, for voters right now. What pollsters miss from their ranking of top issues is the fact that if we do not address climate change, every other major issue on the American mind will get worse.

Economic and scientific models paint a challenging future. In the era of the climate crisis, costs skyrocket as harvests fail from droughts and extreme heat. Insurance premiums explode as flood and fire risks become guarantees. Real estate values plummet as beach-front properties become submerged by the very beaches they once adorned. As climate change worsens, we can expect human health to take a toll from increased spread of infectious diseases, worsening air quality, and declining mental health from climate anxiety. We see a particular environmental justice burden on women, youth, and people of color, too.

The reality is that climate change is no longer a distant issue. We are living in the era of the climate crisis right now, and we are seeing alarming impacts across our nation. Fatal disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Milton have devastated the Southeast, with ocean warming exacerbating the severity of storms. Fire season continues to spread across the West, displacing thousands of Americans from their homes. At this point, none of this is novel, and Americans are constantly addressing these issues at home.

These intersecting crises have taken a toll on national morale. Young voters are feeling particularly disillusioned as a spring Harvard Poll found that only 9 percent of young Americans felt the nation was generally headed in the right direction. Meanwhile, a July survey from Climate Power found that two-thirds of voters consider extreme weather a kitchen table issue in their household.

As a leading progressive legislator and climate movement leader, we agree with that majority. Concepts of a plan are not enough when the American public is being berated with one climate disaster after the next. It is time to treat climate like the kitchen table issue it is, rather than confine it to the margins.

In the pages of her most recent policy plans, Vice President Kamala Harris is doing just that. As Evergreen Action recently synthesized, Harris has begun to formalize the connections between housing, health care, economics, and climate policy that the American public and climate movement have been making for decades.

For example, her new economic plan advocates for “America Forward” tax incentives that promote cleaner steel and cement, protecting jobs for American unions while simultaneously reorienting our industrial sector around decarbonization. Her housing policy would build 1.2 million units of affordable, energy-efficient homes, expanding American housing access while cutting back on energy consumption. Finally, her plan ties health care, child care, and education to our green future, affirming the fact that we can only raise safe, happy, healthy, children if we protect a planet that fosters those conditions.

In each of these policies, Harris makes a bold step toward centering climate as a major issue this election cycle, as core to the American voter as the schools their children attend and the price of their grocery store haul.

It might seem odd to see a congressman and an activist team up on an essay like this. In some ways, we’re opposites. One of us is on the ground mobilizing a grassroots movement of voters around a systemic climate agenda. The other is a member of Congress representing Silicon Valley, working within the system to affect national change and drive clean tech innovation.

But we are both fighting for bold action on inequality and climate. For both of us, the climate crisis is personal. Like Harris, we are both South Asian, and our communities are experiencing disproportionate environmental justice burdens as disasters unfold. We are unified in acknowledging that we can no longer hesitate on climate action. Together, we are pushing for top-down and bottom-up systemic change.

And that starts with changing our national discourse so that it truly reflects the reality of everyday Americans. Climate justice frames every other issue on the ballot this fall.

The tough decisions that climate change is forcing on American families are not an inevitability or an abstraction. They’re real, they’re ubiquitous, and they’re actively unfolding. We need to start legislating — and voting — accordingly.

In this election, one candidate has a history of fighting for climate justice. The other is deep in the pockets of the oil industry, selling out the American public for campaign contributions. Harris has made great strides on climate policy, and voters should keep pushing her to keep it front and center: right on the kitchen table, where it has already emerged.